Tapering 101

My definition of tapering: the art of simultaneously resting for a goal race and getting crazier; best done via an overall reduction in mileage while maintaining training intensity

Training hard wears your body down.  Although it recovers and adapts as you take easy days along the way, it is never 100% recovered or rested during a marathon training cycle.  Reducing the workload in the final 2-3 weeks prior to race day helps it prepare to perform the best it can.  Although it can feel like you’re losing fitness during the taper, you’re actually preparing to peak.  I always feel as if I’ve forgotten how to do long runs during the taper (heck, sometimes I feel that way with one week between long runs!), but I’ve done enough marathons to know that is not the case.

Research shows that everything in our bodies that is depleted by high mileage (muscle glycogen, enzymes, antioxidants, and hormones) returns to optimal ranges during a taper.  The damage to our muscles that occurs during sustained training is repaired, and muscular strength and immune system function both improve.  Then the best part:  tapering improves performance by 2-5%!  That’s a lot of time in a marathon -- 3.6 to 9 minutes for a 3 hour marathon (a little less time if you’re faster; more time gained if you’re slower!).  About any sacrifice is worth a 9 minute advantage on race day, right?!

Personally, I always do my longest long run 3 weeks out from my marathon, which is the strategy that is most widely recommended.  This training cycle that meant 24.4 miles (2:55 duration on my feet) on Feb. 4.  That run concluded my highest mileage week of this cycle (67.6 miles).  The following week (Feb. 6-12 this time), my mileage drops a bit, but I don’t feel it too much, as my daily runs are pretty similar; mainly my long run is shorter (this cycle that meant a 15.5 mile long run and 56.7 total weekly mileage).  This was also the week that doubles disappeared during this cycle.  The next week (Feb. 13-19 this time), mileage drops more (48.2 miles this round) and I start to notice that more, but with some challenging workouts it doesn’t bother me too much, aside from the lack of true long run (a workout of 12 miles 1 week before race day was it).  Race week is when I start feeling it, as I really don’t do much except for the marathon itself (45ish total miles, which means just 18ish outside of race day, with a tiny workout and some strides to keep my legs fresh). 

I typically do fine with tapering until the final week, when I really feel like I’m doing nothing.  And that’s how it should feel!  I don’t “cheat” on my taper like some runners are prone to do (e.g., running more than scheduled, increasing cross-training, or just forgoing the taper all together), because I know how much it helps me, but I can’t claim to love it either -- especially because I am a creature of habit/routine!  I think of it as an investment for the greater good.  I also try to sleep more (in addition to getting more rest for your race, when you're sleeping you are also not being crazy, bahaha!).  Overall I stick to my usual routines with eating, stretching, foam rolling, etc. --- this is not the time to try anything new.  I pretty much think of it as a time when you can't really gain anything for your marathon, but you can screw it up!  No pressure!

During the final days of the taper, most experts recommend carbohydrate-loading.  Contrary to popular belief, this doesn't mean just eating everything possible or stuffing yourself with pasta.  It means getting a higher percentage of your calories from carbs.  So for example, if you would usually eat one piece of toast with peanut butter, you should instead eat two pieces of toast without peanut butter.  I also swap snacks like a container of Greek yogurt for a bowl of oatmeal, a hard-boiled egg for a banana, string cheese for pretzels, etc.  The goal is to go into the marathon with your tank full (i.e., glycogen stores up), as you will burn through that glycogen and then some during the race.  Before a Saturday marathon, my coach tells me to up my carbohydrate intake on Wednesday and Thursday, then on Friday to eat fairly normally but lower fiber than usual, and also not to eat too much too late (that is the hardest part for me because my typical routine consists of a significant snack right before bed so that I'm not hungry when I wake up for my early runs).

It's common to feel "off" during a taper.  You may feel sluggish and tired.  You may experience "phantom" pains.  You may start to question everything about your training block, and panic about the race.  You may think you've forgotten how to run fast and/or far, or feel completely out of shape.  These are all in the range of normal, but are also why many runners dread the taper!

Pre-race panic and/or taper crazies haven’t hit me for this one at this point – maybe they're coming, but maybe they won’t.  I am extremely thankful that I ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona half 6 weeks prior to the this marathon, because having both a half PR and a practice trip to Arizona under my belt are really easing my mind about this one.  Either way, I've done all I can to prepare for this one by this point.  Race day will bring what it will, whether I worry about it or not, and the outcome is all part of God's greater plan (yes, He even cares about our race times!).

As for my goal time, once I settled on it, the key has been to not over-think it!  I have a solid race plan that I believe I can execute, and a realistic time goal based on my half performance, my training, the course, and the weather forecast.  I feel good about it.  However, if I start thinking about the average pace I am going to attempt to run 26.2 miles at, I would freak out a little, so I am not going to!  Just like with the intimidating workouts and half race I’ve done during the past few months, I just need to get out there and do it.

During my taper, I always feel like I should probably live in a bubble in order to avoid any freak accidents or germs (suddenly, it feels like everyone I see is sick!).  I’ve decided I need to develop said bubble and sell it to other marathoners; I feel like there is really a big market for this out there.  “Get your very own taper bubble for 3 easy installments of $19.99!”